


someone to stay

by midnightmouth



Category: Coronation Street, Paula Martin - Fandom, Paula Martin/Sophie Webster - Fandom, Paula/Sophie, Sophie Webster - Fandom, Sophie Webster and Paula Martin, saula, sophie and paula - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 15:39:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17083070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightmouth/pseuds/midnightmouth
Summary: Sophie deals with the events of the past month by turning to drink.





	someone to stay

Feeling numb, Sophie takes another sip of her drink. How things had changed within such a short space of time. Just a few months ago, her mum was here, nagging at her constantly. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to have her mum nagging at her now. And Paula. How that changed fast. One minute she was falling hard and then next- well, she was alone. Again. Sophie was starting to think that it was just the way it was meant to be. That she wasn’t meant to be happy. That it was what she deserved. She felt as though God was laughing at her.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” the concerned landlady asked, noticing that Sophie was starting to sway on the stool a little. Jenny felt sorry for Sophie, she knew what it felt like to lose someone so important to you. “Why don’t I walk you home, hey?” She smiled hopefully at the drunken woman.

Sophie just snorted in reply. Home? She won’t have a home soon enough, not if Tim has anything to do with it. “If you don’t want my custom, I’ll just go elsewhere,” the younger woman simply stated, words slurring slightly. She grabbed her purse and quickly rose from the stool, losing her balance slightly, she staggered. Jenny rushed round the bar to help the woman, but Sophie was having none of it. “I’m fine!” She exclaimed, backing off slightly, hands raised above her head. “I’m fine,” she repeated, softly this time, the tone in her voice revealing that in fact, she was not fine. Far from it.

“Sophie?” Came a familiar voice from behind. Sophie new exactly who it was. Paula. “Sophie?” the voice came again, this time it was stern. Sophie didn’t care, she couldn’t turn to face the woman behind her, not in this state. The lack of replies from Sophie compelled the older woman to make her way over to Sophie, standing tally in front of her.

Paula gathered something might be wrong as she had messaged Sophie several times to arrange a payment plan, but there had been no reply from the other woman. She decided to go in search of Sophie, after checking Sally’s house, she headed to Kev’s house, before making her way to the rovers.

“What’s going on, Soph?” The older woman asked, with concern masking her face. She took one look at Sophie and she could see that she wasn’t herself. She’d never seen her so deflated, so exhausted. It broke Paula’s heart to see her like this. Guilt began to creep in, as Paula knew deep down that she was partly to blame for the broken state Sophie was in.

The lack of reply from Sophie once again, lead Jenny to jump in. “She’s just had a bit too much to drink, haven’t you Sophie?” Sophie just bowed her head, the answer was obvious in the way she could barely manage to stand up. Jenny turned her attention to Paula, “I was just going to walk her home.” She explained, kindly.

Paula smiled back at the woman, graciously. “It’s okay, I’ve got this.” Jenny nodded in response, she had heard stories about the two of them. Of course she has, she works behind a bar, she hears all the gossip. But, stories aside, she could tell how much the older woman cared for Sophie and how much the break-up had affected Sophie. She hoped they could sort things out. Jenny herself was feeling miserable over the whole Johnny and Liz situation. She’d hate for Sophie to be feeling the same way as herself.

Paula let out a deep sigh, gently placing one hand on Sophie to support the younger woman. Sophie wanted to pull away, but she knew she was in no fit state and so accepted the support. She hanged her head in shame, unable to look Paula in the eye. “Come on, let’s get you home,” she smiled softly before guiding the younger woman out of the pub. Once on the cobbles, Sophie came to a halt at the sight of her house.

Paula looked at her, quizzingly. “I can’t,” Sophie explained. “I can’t go in there.”

“Don’t be silly,” Paula simply replied, tugging on Sophie’s arm slightly. “Come on,” she encouraged.

Sophie did not budge. “I’m serious, Paula. I can’t be around Tim right now. Please, just leave me be. I’ll be fine.” She begged slightly, a lump rising in her throat at the thought of entering the house. Tim had been so harsh with her recently, he’s part of the reason she turned to alcohol in the first place.

Paula didn’t push Sophie on the topic any further, instead, she offered an alternative, “what about your dad’s?”

Sophie shook her head, “Jack’s off school today. I don’t want him to see me like this.”

The two women stood in silence for a second, unsure of what the next move was. “I can’t just leave you here like this, Soph.” She was worried about what the woman might do if she left her alone. Even though they were no longer together, Paula still cared deeply for Sophie. She didn’t want anything to happen to her.

“Why not?” Sophie snapped, “you broke up with me, remember? I’m not your problem anymore, Paula!” Sophie’s voice was shaky and tears threatened to fall. She steadied her breath and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry I just-”

“It’s okay.” Paula simply replied. As much as it stung to hear Sophie raise her voice at her like that, she knew that she was hurting. She needed to lash out at someone, and who better than her ex-girlfriend? The older woman couldn’t pretend like she didn’t deserve it.

“You’ll stay at mine,” Paula stated, more than offered. Sophie opened her mouth to protest, but Paula spoke before she could. “I’m not leaving you here, Sophie. Not like this.”

The car journey felt longer than Sophie remembered it to be. Maybe it was because she was suffering from a very bad headache, as a result of some very bad choices. Or maybe it was because she was sat so close to Paula, unable to reach over and rest her hand on her leg the way she used to. Or maybe it was the thick silence that lingered in the air between them, with neither of them sure of what to say or how to act around each other anymore.

The younger woman let out a sigh, resting her head against the window. Turning herself away from Paula, she slowly wrapped her arms around herself in protection.

Paula glanced at Sophie, not taking her eyes off the road for too long. She smiled sadly to herself and she began to ponder over the events that had occurred over the past few weeks or so. Her decision to break up with Sophie was not an easy one. But it was a rational one. Paula often prided herself on her ability to detach herself emotionally from a situation in order to make a decision. She firmly believed that her ability to detach herself was what made her a pretty damn good lawyer. But the decision to break up with Sophie, it was different. She never ever regretted her decisions in the past, she was usually so sure of herself, but this time, she couldn’t help but wonder if she made the right choice.

Pulling into the driveway, Paula looked over at Sophie, who must’ve fell asleep somewhere along the journey. She left her to sleep for a second, taking in how peaceful she looked. She didn’t want to disturb her, but she knew she couldn’t leave her there. She slowly reached over and tapped Sophie gently on the shoulder, drawing a groan from the other woman. Paula smiled to herself, Sophie never did like it when Paula woke her up in a morning. “Soph,” she whispered gently, “we’re here.”

Upon entering the house, Sophie took in her surroundings. It all looked the same. The same throw casually thrown over the sofa, the remote-control sitting pride of place on the coffee table besides Paula’s laptop. Nothing had changed. Yet nothing was the same. Sophie once felt comfortable here, but now she just felt like an intruder.

“I’m just going to nip to the loo,” Paula announced, pulling Sophie out of her thoughts. “Make yourself at home,” she carelessly added. As if Sophie hadn’t actually made herself at home here before.

Sophie sauntered over to the sofa, perching herself on the edge, avoiding all the decorative pillows. She laughed to herself slightly, remembering how much she hated those damn pillows, they were always getting in the way whenever the pair were laying together, watching TV. But, Sophie guessed that didn’t matter now. Paula could have as many decorative pillows as she’d like. Sophie had no right to complain, not anymore.

“I’ve left you a change of clothes on my bed,” Paula explained as she made her way into the living room, sitting in the armchair adjacent to the sofa, opting to put as much space between herself and Sophie as she could. “The guest bed is all made up.”

Sophie nodded slightly, rising from the sofa. She made her way to the stairs, before turning to the older woman, who remained in the living room. “Paula,” she softly called, Paula responding with a casual ‘hmhmm’, “thank you for this.” She quickly added, ducking her head in embarrassment before quickly heading upstairs.

Paula smiled in the direction of the stairs. “It’s no problem at all,” she replied quietly, aware that Sophie wouldn’t be able to hear her.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!  
> Feedback is welcome and much appreciated! 
> 
> :)


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